What to watch for at the Olympics

WISCONSIN NATIVES WHO COULD WIN MEDALS

Matt Antoine: The skeleton slider from Prairie du Chien had a breakthrough season on the World Cup circuit, winning three medals including his first career gold in Lake Placid, N.Y. He should be a contender on the technical Sanki Sliding Center track.

Alyson Dudek: The short-track speedskater from Hales Corners won a silver medal as part of the 3,000-meter relay team at the 2010 Vancouver Games. The relay team didn't qualify for Sochi, so Dudek will have to do it alone, in either the 500 or 1,500.

Erika Brown, Debbie McCormick: The curlers from Madison and Rio, respectively, have a ton of international and Olympic experience.

Phil Kessel, Joe Pavelski, Ryan Suter: The U.S. men's hockey team won the silver medal in Vancouver and anything less than a return trip to the gold-medal game would be disappointing. Kessel and Suter are Madison natives; Pavelski is from Plover.

Tucker Fredricks: This probably will be the last Olympic hurrah for the long-track speedskater from Janesville. A 500-meter specialist, he'll have to have everything fall just right to get on the podium, but it's definitely possible.

Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Jessie Vetter: It would be a shock if Dousman's Decker, Madison's Kessel and Cottage Grove's Vetter didn't win a medal in women's hockey. Team USA is expected to battle Canada for the gold.

FRESH YOUNG FACES, GOING PLACES

Sarah Hendrickson, 19, ski jumping: The 95-pound dynamo already has won 22 World Cup medals and was gold medalist at the 2013 World Championships. She will be competing just five months after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery following a training crash.

Emery Lehman, 17, speedskating: The high school senior from Oak Park, Ill., opened eyes when he caught and passed 2010 Olympian Jonathan Kuck to win the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials. Lehman also qualified in the 5,000.

Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, Alpine skiing: The teen sensation is the reigning world champion and World Cup title-holder in slalom and also a medal contender in giant slalom. In five World Cup slalom races this season, Shiffrin has won three times and finished second once.

Maggie Voisin, 15, freeski slopestyle: She's the youngest member of a U.S. Olympic team, winter or summer, since 1996. Voisin earned a silver medal during her first-ever X Games last month and was named to Team USA as a discretionary pick in the new slopestyle event.

Gracie Gold, 18, figure skating: The 2014 U.S. champion has the perfect name for the top of the podium. NBC has been promoting her as the face of these Games, but can she deliver? New coach Frank Carroll helped Evan Lysacek win gold in 2010.

MARK THEM DOWN FOR A MEDAL

Ted Ligety: The 29-year-old Alpine skier is a favorite to win gold in giant slalom and "Ted Shred" should be a contender in several other disciplines as well. He had an outstanding 2013 season, winning three gold medals at the world championships.

Shani Davis: The long-track speedskater is the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 1,000 meters and has won silver twice in the 1,500. He'll be the man to beat in those races and could add a medal in the team pursuit.

Shaun White: With Lindsey Vonn sidelined by a knee injury, the snowboarder is arguably the biggest name at the Winter Games. He's the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in halfpipe and has won 18 medals (13 gold) at the Winter X Games.

Heather Richardson: Barring a huge upset, she'll be the first U.S. woman to win a medal in long-track speedskating since 2002. Richardson is the 2013 world sprint champion and won the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Steve Holcomb: He can become the first American since Billy Fiske (1928, 1932) to win consecutive gold medals in four-man bobsled and the first American in 78 years to win two-man gold. Holcomb is an outstanding pilot and has one of the best push crews in the world.

INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES TO WATCH

Evgeny Plushenko, figure skating, Russia: He was named to his fourth Olympic team after performing in front of Russian officials in a test skate. Plushenko won silver in 2002 and 2010 and gold in 2006. He is trying to become the second figure skater to win four Olympic singles medals.

Alex Ovechkin, hockey, Russia: The captain of the Washington Capitals and three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner as the NHL's most valuable player has the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Russia hasn't medaled at the Olympics since winning bronze in 2002.

Sven Kramer, long-track speedskating, The Netherlands: The six-time world allround champion goes into his third Winter Games unbeaten in the 5,000, 10,000 and team pursuit this season. He is determined to pull off the triple gold that eluded him in Vancouver when he followed erroneous instructions from his coach, incorrectly changed lanes and was disqualified in a 10K race he likely would have won.

Sidney Crosby, hockey, Canada: "Sid the Kid" authored one of the greatest moments in Canadian sports history when he scored the golden goal against the United States in overtime in 2010. To no one's surprise, he was named captain of Team Canada for the Sochi Games.

Yuna Kim, figure skating, South Korea: The gold medalist in Vancouver, Kim will try to become the first repeat winner in ladies singles since East Germany's Katarina Witt (1984 Sarajevo, 1988 Calgary). Kim also is a two-time world champion.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Lindsey Vonn: The 29-year-old skier announced one month ago that she would not compete in Sochi because of a knee injury. Vonn won two medals at the 2010 Vancouver Games, including the first gold by an American woman in the downhill.

Apolo Ohno: America's most decorated Winter Olympian (eight medals) has retired, but television viewers will still see plenty of him — or at least hear plenty from him — in his role as a short-track speedskating analyst for NBC.

Evan Lysacek: The 2010 Olympic champion in men's figure skating suffered a series of injuries, including a torn labrum in his left hip, during a comeback attempt. Rather than risk permanent injury by continuing to train, he pulled the plug in December.

Katherine Reutter: She won two medals in Vancouver, but chronic back problems forced the short-tracker from Champaign, Ill., to retire last year at age 24. She now coaches in the Academy of Skating Excellence at the Pettit National Ice Center.

Meng Wang: China's short-track superstar collided with a teammate while training and broke her ankle just weeks before the opening ceremony. She was nearly unbeatable in the 500 meters; now that race will be wide open.

TEAM USA BY THE NUMBERS

230 U.S. team members, including 105 women and 125 men. It is the largest athlete delegation for any nation in the history of the Winter Games.

106 Returning Olympians for the U.S., including one five-time Olympian, two four-time Olympians, 10 three-time Olympians and 23 two-time Olympians.

6 Olympic Games that Nordic combined skier Todd Lodwick has competed in, becoming the first American to do so.

9 and 10 Women's bobsled push athletes Lolo Jones and Lauryn Williams become the ninth and 10th Americans to compete in both the winter and summer Games. Jones is a two-time Olympic hurdler and Williams is a three-time Olympic sprinter.

38 States represented. California claims the most Olympians with 20.

26 Average age of Team USA members. The oldest and youngest Olympians are curler Ann Swisshelm, 45, and freestyle skier Maggie Voisin, 15.

22 Members of Team USA who are parents; there are 19 fathers and three mothers.

6-5 Height of hockey forward Blake Wheeler, the tallest member of Team USA.

15 The United States will be represented in all 15 disciplines across seven sports and its athletes will compete in as many as 94 of the 98 medal events.

About Gary D’Amato

Gary D'Amato is the Journal Sentinel's sports columnist and also covers golf and the Olympic Games. He is a three-time National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association sportswriter of the year in Wisconsin and has won numerous national writing awards.